ALEX Wharf pulled off an amazing hat-trick as Glamorgan fought back to seal a totesport League D1 victory over Warwickshire.

ALEX Wharf pulled off an amazing hat-trick as Glamorgan fought back to seal a totesport League Division One victory over Warwickshire.

All indications had been for a home victory after skipper Nick Knight had completed a brilliant century - the first 100 by a Warwickshire batsman in one-day league cricket against Glamorgan - after they had been set 244 to win at 5.4-an-over.

And at the start of the penultimate over Warwickshire were still slight favourites at 228-7 with Knight still there.

But with the fourth delivery of his final over Wharf had Graham Wagg caught by Mike Powell at cover; the next saw Knight hole out to his former Warwickshire team-mate David Hemp on the boundary, and with the sixth Wharf bowled Dewald Pretorius.

It was the first Glamorgan hat-trick in the competition since Adrian Dale achieved the feat against Durham at Colwyn Bay 11 years ago.

Wharf, who finished with figures of 4-35, was mobbed by his Glamorgan team-mates as they beat Warwickshire by 13 runs with an over to spare to go back to the top of the table.

But it always looked as if it might have been a case of a Knight slaying the Dragons, especially as Glamorgan had lost their previous two one-day matches against Lancashire and Middlesex batting first.

Though Wharf will be remembered as the hero, the batting contributions at the start of the innings from Robert Croft and Powell helped Glamorgan get off to a flying start.

Despite appearing a little campaign weary after 13 days on the road, Glamorgan eased their way back into the contest when Warwickshire found themselves 83-3.

Knight, showing why he played 100 one-day internationals for England, had other ideas as he and Jonathan Trott kept the scoreboard ticking over, adding 81 in 15 overs, before Trott swept Cosker to mid-wicket.

Knight and Trevor Penney took it down to 70 needed off the last 10 before Penney sacrificed himself in a run-out mishap, and next ball Brad Hogg was lbw to Croft.

But aided by a free hit for four from an Adrian Dale no ball, Knight completed his first century as Warwickshire captain from 109 balls much to the delight of the 4,500 Edgbaston crowd.

The place soon went quiet, however, during Wharf's final over.

But Glamorgan's failure to capitalise on a whirlwind start looked to be their undoing at the halfway stage.

Despite losing Matthew Elliott in the fifth over for a single, which took him to 1,000 runs in the competition, Croft and Powell launched an unmerciful assault on Warwickshire's seamers.

In an attempt to stem a tidal wave of runs, Knight was forced to use five bowlers in the first 15 overs and make countless field changes.

Croft punished anything slightly off line, reaching 50 with one of two sixes which were dispatched over mid-wicket and long-off from Wagg, despite having the wicket-keeper standing up.

The captain's half-century arrived from exactly 50 balls as he and Powell put on 87 in 10 overs.

Powell looked well set to score a first one-day century in what was his 100th appearance in the competition, driving in typically pugnacious manner.

At 101-1 in 14.4 overs Glamorgan seemed to be on course for a healthy score, helped when 15 came off Ian Bell's only over - Powell taking fours off the first three deliveries.

But a lot of the momentum went out of Glamorgan's scoring rate when Croft attempted one big shot too many and skied a ball to cover.

Powell and Matthew Maynard had looked well set to continue Glamorgan's bid for a major score before the former captain was bowled by a yorker-length delivery from Pretorious.

Powell, who had reached 50 from only 45 balls, looked in top-notch form before trying to work Wagh down to third man only to be caught behind. His 73 came from 70 deliveries.

After that, on what was a dry Edgbaston pitch, Warwickshire's slower bowlers - off-spinner Wagh and Brad Hogg's slow left-arm chinamen - had a massive impact as Glamorgan slumped form 211-4 to 237-9 inside six overs.